Strategic framework for strengthening undergraduate medical education in addressing the current health challenges

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Abstract

All countries in the WHO South-East Asia Region are confronted with numerous health challenges that need to be appropriately addressed. To deal effectively with these challenges, Member States need to strengthen their health systems using the primary health care approach, with a good balance between public health and medical services. The health systems must be able to promote and maintain the health of the population and to avert or minimize the negative consequences of these health challenges. The medical doctor, who is usually considered the leader of a health-care team, be it in primary, secondary or tertiary level care, must possess appropriate public health competencies and capacity to influence the health systems in order to be able to address effectively these health challenges. However, medical education conventionally is oriented toward institutional-based medical care rather than public health services. As such medical graduates have limited public health orientation. Therefore, a Regional meeting on "The Role of Medical Education in Addressing the Current Health Challenges" was convened in June 2012 to look specifically at how medical schools can better prepare their medical graduates to address effectively the health challenges. This document is an outcome of the deliberation of this Regional meeting. It presents the strategic framework for strengthening undergraduate medical education in addressing the health challenges. It identifies strategic directions and actions countries should carry out to produce medical doctors who have clinical and public health competencies, as well as other broader competencies, to meet the needs of health systems.